Eva with her laptop at the hospital

I’m sad to report that Eva Markvoort, subject and STAR of the documentary 65_RedRoses, passed away on March 27th. On her blog it said: “Our beautiful girl died this morning at 9:30. She is at peace. Will write more later.”

It hurt to read it.

Eva had battled with the genetic disease Cystic Fibrosis her whole life and recently went through a double lung transplant hoping to be cured (the story of the documentary).

With what seemed to be a successful transplant, Eva’s life was hers again and it was so incredible to see and experience indirectly, but unfortunately her body rejected the lungs and she has since passed only months later. The documentary made note of the serious possibility of rejection, but  she seemed clear of that issue. So it was very surprising to hear that her body had rejected the lungs.

I remember seeing the amazingly cool photo of Eva Markvoort on the front of NOW Magazine in Toronto, and also on the cover of the Hot Docs film festival. See pic here >> – (More pics from her visit to Toronto are on her blog as well).

I was fortunate enough to meet Eva in person after a viewing of the documentary 65_RedRoses at the Bloor Cinema during the 2009 Hot Docs festival. I didn’t think she was going to make it as I heard she was heading back to Vancouver that day. But she was in attendance, and I was so happy to spot her just a few rows back from me. I peeked over a few times to see her expression and I could see her looking around at the audience a bit trying to evaluate their experience. She had such an innocent, humble yet movie star-like quality to her. (She was an actor as well).

After the film I got to say hello and shake her hand which was special. I was so impressed with the amount of love and courage she had.  The film highlighted her love, her q&a talk after the film highlighted it, her blog highlighted it. Love ran through her like fire and she wasn’t afraid to show and admit it.  Her passion and openness about love was inspiring and contageous.

Since last fall I’ve checked out her blog every once in awhile, and I was shocked when I discovered that her body was rejecting her lungs, and that she was going to die. It was so sad, and I literally cried, which I don’t do often.

But she fought so hard throughout her whole life and she’s left a legacy of love that will long outlive her. I hope you can take a few minutes to learn more about her.

Make sure you check out her popular blog: 65redroses.livejournal.com. Also, below is a video of MP Joyce Murray’s Statement on the Life of Eva Markvoort and you’ll also the find the official preview of the documentary 65_RedRoses, which was named after her blog.